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NCEEA Completes ENERGY STAR Market Impacts study

NCEEA's ENERGY STAR Market Impact Study

Project Summary:
The North Carolina Energy Efficiency Alliance has completed a study investigating the market advantages of ENERGY STAR (ES) qualification for new homes in a five county region around the greater Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. This investigation compares a random sample of ES Homes against homes with no building certifications that have been appraised as similar as possible to the ES Homes by a third-party appraisal company. A home’s market advantage is defined as selling for a higher sale price, selling for a greater proportion of the list price, selling for a higher price per square foot, or having spent fewer days on the market prior to sale. Data utilized was gathered from the Triangle MLS database.Results:
ES Homes were found to have a statistically significant market advantage compared to similar code-built homes. ES homes sold for significantly higher sales prices, sold for significantly higher prices per square foot, and sold in significantly fewer days. ES Homes also sold for a greater proportion of their list price, but this result was not found to be statistically significant. Where applicable, data was analyzed using a method that accounted for differences between the properties and made appropriate financial adjustments to account for these difference as determined by a third-party appraisal company. This analysis method represents the closets apples to apples comparison for the homes in the study achievable using industry standard practices. Below are tables and graphs further detailing the results of the investigation.